Thoughts from the intersection of science, pseudoscience, and conflict.

adventure

I know it’s technically no longer the weekend, but since it’s a holiday here in the United States, I’m going to ignore that fact. Here are some things I found interesting this past week:

Something I read:“Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief” by Lawrence Wright. I’ve been reading this a chapter at a time on the El while commuting to my lab, and I’ve finally finished it. It’s an absolutely fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of Scientology, coupled with a history of L. Ron Hubbard and how he came to found the organization.

Coincidentally, a few weeks ago on a date** I actually went to a Scientology-sponsored “Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights” traveling exhibit in Bucktown called “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death”. Essentially, the exhibit consists of a series of movies (which were boring and I skipped), and posters with super scary images:
with explanations in text about how psychiatry is a global conspiracy with a mission to generate profits and control the world by making up diseases and using torture treatments to subjugate people. Evidently psychiatry is the true cause of all the past evil in the world, responsible for the Holocaust, torture, apartheid, scientific racism, Russian gulags, and Hemingway’s death.

The exhibits were utterly fascinating, and all entirely wrong. I’m not going to go into a detailed refutation of their inaccurate claims here (although I could do that in another post if anyone’s interested). But I do want to encourage people to read a bit about the history and philosophy of Scientology, because efforts like these do have consequences. Not only do they misrepresent a medical profession and ongoing scientific research associated with it, they also further stigmatize mental illness and potentially increase the reluctance of people afflicted with such illnesses to seek treatment for themselves. While there are certainly worthy and interesting discussions to be had about the use of psychiatric medication, I urge you to educate yourselves and recognize the difference between legitimate critiques and blatant manipulation.

On a (much) lighter note…

Here are some things I found interesting on the web:

–This wind map of the United States is completely hypnotic . Definitely recommend staring at this for a while if you get stressed. Our planet is astonishing.

–And finally, this stunning color film of London in 1927 gave me chills. I love glimpses into the past like this.

Do you notice how slowly vehicles moved? Life was at a different pace back then.

What do you think about Scientology? Am I now a Suppressive Person for speaking out about it? What did you like best about the London film? Do you have any book recommendations for me? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. And have a lovely and adventurous week, everyone!

For Americans, today is Memorial Day, a holiday to honor soldiers killed in wars. If you’re looking for a way to make a charitable gesture in this spirit, consider donating to the Wounded Warrior project to help injured veterans find financial assistance and employment opportunities.

From my visit to the Very Large Array at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (http://www.vla.nrao.edu/) last year. One of the most amazing places I’ve ever been.

I was reading an insipid article this morning, and became curious as to how many people actually find astrology meaningful. The easiest metric at 7 am on a Saturday morning is (naturally) Twitter, so I checked out the account of an astrology author, Terry Nazon: 73,266 followers.
Ms. Nazon seems to be trying to emphasize the importance of astrology in our culture through the most recent tweet of hers:

“There are about 10,000 professional astrologers in America & only 3,000 professional astronomers”

I don’t know if that’s true or not (Ms. Nazon didn’t cite her source, so I’m skeptical), but her popularity and that of astrology in general is something that ought to make me depressed. But it doesn’t at all, and I’ll explain why at the end of the post.Continue reading →

It’s been an adventurous week. Here is a random collection of things I found interesting:

What I found: I am a Game of Thrones addict (who isn’t at this point?). But I have to admit the accents drive me crazy. Apparently, I’m not the only one. This is a pretty cool discussion on the accents in the show…I suggest you check it out before the AWESOMENESS that will be happening tonight. (Have you read the books? No? What are you waiting for?)

What I read:
I always have good intentions to read as widely as possible, but I still have a tendency to read the same types of books over and over again. This week, however, a friend gave me a copy of something completely different: “Cool jobs in the music business!” by Jeffrey Rabhan. I know absolutely nothing about the music industry, but I started reading this while waiting for my much-delayed flight home to Chicago from New York on Wednesday, and finished it before my plane arrived. Now I know a bit more. If you have any interest whatsoever in a music career (or even if, like me, you don’t but just want to learn something completely new), I highly recommend it. For me, it was especially helpful because the very next day I went to a dear friend’s concert. With a little more background from having read this book, I made a nuisance of myself asking as many people as I could about their jobs (the sound technician, the tour manager, the drum tech, the security guys, the caterers, the guy who drove the bus), and I understood a little bit more of how everyone’s collective efforts produced a memorable night of music for thousands of people. Which brings me to my next thing…

What I listened to:
I’ve been friends with Andy Hurley for a couple of years (we are both students of Gym Jones). So when Fall Out Boy came to Chicago this past Thursday for a show at the Riviera, I was lucky enough to get to go. I love “Save Rock and Roll” , and it was an amazing experience to hear them play songs from it live, although I have to admit I chose my location more for the view than for the acoustics. If you get the chance to go see them, I really encourage you to! It’s a terrific show, and they are the nicest group of guys you’ll ever meet. Here are a few photos from the day:

So many happy people!During soundcheck, Andy and Patrick sang “Save Rock and Roll” to each other. It was just as sweet as you might imagine.I’m really bad at taking pictures of myself, and since we had a lot of downtime before the show, Patrick tried to give me a tutorial on how to look cute.